“The India Confusion”

I find India impossible to explain or describe to someone who has never been or experienced it. Apparently I am not alone, as I stumbled upon this article, which seems to put in words some of the things I’ve seen and experienced but couldn’t explain. (Read the full article here.) In the meantime, here are some excerpts:

Background: “It is a unique, overlapping, and entangled landscape - one living within the other. India is one part stuck in history. You, as a tourist, are going there to experience this living past. The other part is the modern India that facilitates you as a traveler. India’s past collides with her present in the middle of the road. You witness this never-ending and mind-boggling fusion of contradictions.”

First Impressions: “Your welcome to India is not a friendly one. The first thing you notice is the people. I mean lots of people. People moving in all directions. You have to deal with the worst of India head-on, and it’s really raw. Be it the beggars, the touts, the poor children, or the local taxi drivers, you have to deal with all of them minutes after your arrival.”

Culture: “There is no Indian culture! … And you fail miserably if you are on a mission to find "real" Indian culture. India is not a monolithic cultural block. It’s an anthology of a thousand countries within a country.”

Class: “There is nothing like the contrast between the poor in villages and the rich in the cities. The extreme rich and the unimaginably poor live almost side-by-side in any Indian city. … All share, more or less, the same public landscape. The cultural co-existence of these classes is an unexplainable miracle.”

Family: “Parents play highly influential role in their children’s lives. … A family is more of a collective consulting body where everyones opinion matters. … The family is the elementary building block of the Indian society.”

Communication: “Any layman on the road wants to say something to you. Indian love to talk, and do so even with a total stranger on the street. Such communication hardly starts with introductions by name. … They talk for hours as if they are long time friends, and may depart without knowing each other’s names.”

Advice: “The most valuable currency you need to enjoy India in total is patience. She never allows you to run faster than her nor she is bothered about your hurry. The India elephant moves at her own pace, stopping here and there at its own wish, enjoying every bit of it’s journey. Follow it’s procession in style... it is the best way to enjoy India.”

India is like nothing else I’ve ever seen; at the same time, traveling elsewhere has prepared me for India. It’s the kind of place you have to experience firsthand to understand, but the initiation process definitely not for everyone. But if you can tolerate, accept, and embrace it for what it is, you’ll want to keep searching for more.